OPR - Wednesday, 1st November, 2006

Since July, the frescoes of the main hall at Verdala Palace have gone through substantial professional restoration by Heritage Malta.

During a presentation, the Project Leader Ms. Roberta DeAngelis gave a detailed account on the ongoing restoration to President Eddie Fenech Adami, who has taken a personal interest in the project, and to sponsors: the Tumas Group, Gasan Group, Polidano Brothers and the Malta Financial Services Authority, who attended the presentation.

Ms. DeAngelis said that the principal objectives of the current conservation project are the uncovering of the vault paintings and ensuring their preservation, both in the short and long term, as they had existed before being whitewashed. The removal of the beige whitewash will allow the team of conservators to assess the real condition of the paintings and to acquire data on the history of the paintings. 

The project is being undertaken and coordinated by Heritage Malta and involves the expertise of Maltese and Italian professional conservators, art historians, and scientists besides members of Heritage Malta staff, who ensure the smooth running of the project.

The President said that it is important that every Maltese citizen be made  aware of, and to appreciate our heritage. Our cultural heritage describes who we are and gives us  a national identity.  President Fenech Adami expressed his gratitude towards the sponsors who made this project possible.

Vault paintings on the east wall of the main hall, Verdala Palace on commencement of the current conservation project (end July 2006)

The painting depicting DIANA, before (left) and after (right) removal of the whitewash.
 

Detail of the painting depicting FLORA, before (left) and after (bottom) removal of the whitewash covering the arm and hand.

Progress achieved to date:

§              Scientific investigations were carried out to choose the most appropriate cleaning method. This phase was achieved before undertaking any conservation treatment on site; 

§              Scientific investigations were carried out in order to identify the materials composing the paintings.  This phase is still ongoing and is essential in order to allow the conservators to plan safe conservation treatments and measures, understand the deterioration of the paintings, and shed light onto the history of the paintings;

§              Archival research has been carried out to trace documentation related to all those events that impinge on a better understanding of the history of the paintings. This phase is planned for the entire duration of the project;

§              Uncovering of the vault paintings was commenced at the end of July and is now approaching the final stage;

§              Mapping of relevant information related to technical aspects of the paintings and to the current condition of the paintings has started and will be finalised after the paintings are completely uncovered.

§              Significant insights are emerging during the ongoing conservation project, in particular:

1.      There is evidence that the figures used to have different proportions and colour schemes than those currently visible;

2.      The current architectural decoration does not seem to be original and is probably a later addition, dated to the late 19th c. or early 20^th c.; 

3.      There is evidence that the paintings had signs of deterioration before they were whitewashed;

4.      It is likely that there was an attempt of some sort of ‘restoration’ before the paintings were whitewashed.

Planned work:

§              Once the uncovering of the vault paintings is achieved, the full assessment of the paintings condition can be undertaken. Besides finalising the mapping, this phase will require scientific investigations to understand whether deterioration is still ongoing and what are its possible causes;

§              The above phase will serve to plan the necessary conservation treatments/measures, which will follow;

§              Concurrently  investigations will be carried out to understand as much as possible the nature and extent of the previous painting scheme/s, so as to shed light onto the ‘rich’ history of these paintings;

§              Discrete and small areas of the current painting scheme will be chosen to investigate and expose the painting scheme lying below that visible today;

§              Finally the aesthetical presentation of the uncovered paintings will be approached and undertaken;

§              All the phases of the conservation project will be carefully documented. 

The history

§        The main hall of Verdala Palace is embellished with paintings depicting mythological figures framed within an architectural painted decoration;  

§        Limited historical information is available on the vault paintings;

§        The paintings are traditionally dated to the late 16^th century and attributed to Filippo Paladini (c. 1544-1616).  This attribution, however, still needs confirmation.

§        It is known that Giuseppe Calì (1846-1930) intervened on (‘touched up’) the mythological figures between 1908 and 1912 and that in the late 1930s the vault paintings were covered by a beige whitewash.

§        A watercolour painting kept in the archives of the Museum of the Order of St John, Clerkenwell (UK) and dated to 1890 shows how the vault paintings looked like in the late 19^th century.  Significant differences between the paintings as they look now and those depicted in the watercolour are clearly apparent and point to a history of past interventions on these paintings.

§        The uncovering of the paintings started in the late 1980s by restorer George Farrugia from the Museums Department. In 2003 the Malta Centre for Restoration completed the removal of the beige coat of paint from the first bay, revealing the figures depicting ‘Baccus’ and ‘Mars’.

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